SUNBURY, Ohio -- Everyone riding the bus that transported the Big Walnut football team to Canton for the Division II state championship game against Licking Valley in 2007 will have the memory of the departure stored in their gray matter for the rest of their lives.

Mark Znidar, The Columbus Dispatch

SUNBURY, Ohio -- Everyone riding the bus that transported the Big Walnut football team to Canton for the Division II state championship game against Licking Valley in 2007 will have the memory of the departure stored in their gray matter for the rest of their lives.

The bus circled the town square, which is a little like Hill Valley, Calif., in the movie Back to the Future, as the townspeople hollered and applauded their boys.

"We felt huge that day with all those people coming out for us," said Joe Weaver, the present head coach who was an assistant on that team. "We had never done that before. That was quite a day."

When the Eagles returned with the championship trophy, a fire truck met the bus at the city limits and escorted it back to the school with the lights on and siren screaming.

It's a scene that reeks of small-town Americana and Ohio high-school football in particular.

The last census report lists 4,389 people in Sunbury. That is up from 2,630 reported in 2000.

Game nights at Big Walnut are special. The stadium is atop a hill, and the grandstands usually are packed. The concourse also is crowded, mostly with middle-school students wanting to be seen.

The team has been the talk of the town since 2000, when it made the first of eight appearances in the playoffs. Finding a parking space is similar to getting one of the last deep discount sale items in Wal-Mart.

If any Big Walnut player born and bred in Sunbury takes any of this for granted, two-way senior lineman Julian Simon will set him straight.

"I came here from Mount Gilead after the sixth grade," he said. "The team there didn't win a game. We'd be lucky to score a touchdown. There was no tradition. Here, we win big games and championships. It's just a different atmosphere here. The coaches are pushing you. The fans are cheering for you. I never knew what it took to win until I got here."

Simon moved in too late to play seventh-grade football. A teacher encouraged him to try out the following year.

As a sophomore, he played primarily special teams. Last year, he muscled his way into the starting lineup.

The opening game of 2011 against Westerville Central was full of emotion for Simon.

"I always dreamed of being on that field, to be that player to make that hit," Simon said. "The first time on the field was the best feeling ever. I had some butterflies. I just can't explain the feeling. I was finally a starter."

Weaver, who graduated from Big Walnut in 1994, understands the feeling. Even though he played four years of college football for the University of Toledo, returning for a game as an assistant coach at the school was as special as playing in a bowl game.

"I had goose bumps coming out of the locker room and walking to the field that night," Weaver said. "I took in all the sights and sounds of the crowd. This is a great place for high-school football. We have such community spirit. We have such good backing. Yes, this is a special place."

Tight end and defensive end Brant Weiss, a senior, sat in the grandstands in Fawcett Stadium for the 2007 championship game. He thought about the future, when it would be his turn to put on the uniform.

"I sat at the 35-yard line," Weiss said. "I was in the seventh grade. It was just crazy that night. It was a great time for our town."

Weiss and Carson Chatterton, a senior quarterback and linebacker this season, also was sitting in "The Rage Cage" student cheering section that night.

To this day, Weiss and Chatterton appreciate the students who often don't sit during games to cheer the team on.

"The Rage Cage is a tradition," Chatterton said. "They really come out for us. They get us pumped up. They get us ready to go."

There also is pressure on each senior class to produce a lot more than a winning season. At this point, parents, students and fans expect a strong run toward an Ohio Capital Conference Capital Division championship, a spot in the playoffs and a run in the playoffs.

"You always are going to have pressure," Weiss said. "We've got a good program and we're expected to do good things every year. We're a small town and they come out for Big Walnut football."

The players know they are under a microscope. Chatterton, for example, will be compared to former all-state quarterback Ethan Wetzel of the 2007 team whether he likes it or not.

"If there was a football dictionary, Ethan Wetzel's picture would be in it," Chatterton said. "The great thing is you know you have the town behind you. You will get criticism, but it's just that everyone around here loves football. Our team is a family and you want to be around your brothers."

Weiss put the pressure into perspective.

"You don't want to go out and do stupid things to embarrass yourself or the team," he said.

Weaver experienced his own pressure succeeding Scott Wetzel four years ago. He understood the dynamic between the people of Sunbury and Eagles football.

"This is a hard-working community, one where you show up with a lunch pail and go to work," Weaver said. "The fans want their football players to have that same integrity and respect. The kids love to wear the Big Walnut name across their chest. They love to put on that jersey."

Weaver put a face on the passion for the team talking about Otis Horsley, who has been driving the team bus for years.

Horsley will steer the bus around the town square on trips back from away games. He honks the horn for victories.

"If Otis is really laying on the horn, everyone thinks, 'Big Walnut had a pretty good night,'" Weaver said.

There are other traditions, such as a team dinner in the school cafeteria on Thursday night, singing the team fight song after victories and having grilled hamburgers and hotdogs at the Fat Tackle Trailer after games.

The road to becoming an Eagle starts with playing in the youth football leagues and attending the high-school summer camp. Weaver asks the varsity players to help out at the camp.

"I remember when these current players were campers," he said.

Weaver smiled broadly and said, "You just love to play football here."

mznidar@dispatch.com

@markznidar

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